


The Zoo

by OhBelieveYouMe



Series: One Of The Hundreds From The Train [1]
Category: Company - Sondheim/Furth
Genre: Bachelor life, Broadway, Dating, F/M, Musicals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 06:17:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8275753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhBelieveYouMe/pseuds/OhBelieveYouMe
Summary: "Bobby, Honey, if you'd visit the kids once or twice...""Jenny, I could take them to the zoo on Friday."And he did…





	

He first noticed her by the fox exhibit. Fitting. She had been carefully studying a plaque on the fence while smartly holding a toddler's overalls by the straps. Long hair, big blonde curls, and legs that went on for days. The little boy was trying to scale the fence, but she'd give a taught tug to convince him to hop down whenever he made it past the third bar. 

"Bobby!" His attention was pulled from the mystery woman when little Suzy tugged on the three fingers of his she had in her hand. "Bobby, I wanna see the birds again!" Why? They had just left the exotic bird exhibit. 

"We see birds all the time, Bobby-" Johnny grumped, trying to yank Robert in the opposite direction. "I wanna see the lions." 

"Guys, we have all day;" and Robert secretly wished he also had bourbon. "We've already seen the birds, though, why don't we go to the lions first?" Compromise, right? Isn't that a lesson to teach the kids? Good call, Bobby, good call. 

"No!" Suzy protested, pouting out her plump little lip and feigning a tremble. She wouldn't throw a tantrum with Robert, though- they were always good for him. They loved him. 

Robert bent down, rendering himself closer to her short stature. "Sweety, why don't we go see the lions and then we'll see the birds before we leave?" Pinky was held out, and she eagerly caught it with her own to seal the promise. He pinched at her cheek and she blushed, her pout transforming into a cute smile. Apparently they'd be heading to the lions. 

\---

He saw her again, walking into the aquarium with the little boy on her hip. "Hey, I have a great idea," Robert suggested to his little companions, and they both gazed expectantly up at him. "Let's go see the... dolphins? fish?" He was pulling at strings, hoping to randomly hit a water animal they'd be interested in. It didn't work, neither of the children even blinked. "Sharks? Sting rays?" Did they even have big fish like that there? Robert had no clue. 

"Birds?" Suzy asked, nodding eagerly as if that would guarantee her success. She was a stubborn little thing, but he loved it. Relentless, like her father. 

"Starfish?" Robert tried again, already leading the way towards the aquarium. "The little... horse looking things...?" 

Johnny raised his eyebrow; "Seahorses?" 

"Yes!" Robert raised their hands he held into the air, nearly pulling little Suzy up off the ground and causing her to giggle. "You wanna see the seahorses? I've got you buddy, onward we go-"

"I don't care about seahorses," Johnny mused out loud while Suzy whimpered and hugged herself to his leg. She was proving to be quite a difficult obstacle. These kids were killing him. 

"And it's dark in there, Bobby," she insisted, working on crocodile tears. He knew they weren't real, but those baby blues turning wet made his heart twist. 

Flustered, Robert paused in his steps, and twisted so both children could look up at him. He had brought them to the zoo so they'd have fun, after all. The mystery woman would have just been a Hell of a perk. "Look," he bent at the waist, voice hushed, "If we go through the whole aquarium, we come out right by the ice cream cart. Everyone gets a cone if we go through the aquarium." 

Bribery? Probably. Precisely, actually, and he'd deny it if either of them told Jenny he pulled their love for sugary treats to get his way. To his immense joy, both children began the trek towards the aquarium without any more resistance. 

Now if only he could find her... 

\---

"Bobby," Suzy was tugging on his pant leg, and whispering surprisingly quietly. He glanced down, and shook her hand to show he was listening, but she still wasn't satisfied. "Bobby bubi, I have a secret, come here." 

"She has to use the restroom," Johnny clarified quickly, earning him an angry little glare from the embarrassed party. Robert flinched, turning back to Suzy in hopes of a denial. He didn't get one, just a little nod accompanied by her twisting so her skirt flounced. A potty dance. 

"Uh," Robert prayed for a sign, and managed to find the little stick figures signifying the bathrooms. He pulled them along, feeling quite proud of himself for solving the problem- until he was confronted with yet another conundrum. 

Two doors. Men, and Women. "Uh," again, confusion from the one who was supposed to be in charge. "Johnny," Robert leaned towards the older boy, "what does your dad do when this happens?" 

"He sends her with Mom." Thanks, kiddo. Robert huffed, bending so he'd come face to face with little Suzy as she impatiently tapped her toes on the floor. 

"Honey, are you gonna need help?" She shook her head hard enough so her tresses bounced around her. "Can you do it all by yourself?" She nodded rapidly, already making her way towards the bathroom. "Okay, if you need me, you shout okay?" Suzy shoved through the door, still nodding her head as she ran off inside. 

The door shut behind her, and Robert broke out in a sweat. Is that how he was supposed to handle this situation? Sending a little girl into a public restroom alone? He looked for assurance from Johnny, but only received an equally skeptical stare. 

Damn. 

\---

It had been at least five minutes. "Go check on her," Robert suggested to Johnny, who vehemently shook his head in refusal. 

The preteen shot a look his way that made him know it was impossible. "No way, that's the lady's room." 

"You know, I hesitate to ask-" It was her. The woman he'd been following at a distance. She had the little boy in her arms, leaning lazily against her shoulder. "But why are two lads like you loitering by the lady's room? You lost?" 

Robert flinched, "Uh, no," he chuckled nervously while shaking his head side to side just as Johnny had done minutes before. "I, uh, I have a kid in there." He jutted a thumb to the ladies' room and gave a shy smile. 

Her head cocked to the side, eyes narrowing. Was she judging him? "How old is she?" 

"Six." Johnny tugged on Robert's arm and glared. "Five?" He tried again, and got a nod to confirm he had hit the right age. Proudly, he shot the woman another smile, but it wasn't returned. 

The blonde bit her lip. "Not yours, I'm assuming?" It sounded condescending, but he wouldn't argue. Robert confirmed the suspicion with a succinct nod. "I'll go look for her," Oh thank God, he thought he could breathe again, "what's her name?" Angels do exist. 

"Suzy;" Both the boys looked at each other for a moment when they simultaneously relayed her name. "Suzy Anne," Robert further confirmed. 

She nodded diligently, unabashedly handing off her little package to a spellbound Robert, then disappeared into the fortress of the women's restroom. The toddler cooed at him, fingering the buttons on his shirt and drooling down his little chin. He unblushingly used his sleeve to clean up the slobber. He chuckled; kids were gross sometimes. 

It felt like an eternity, but a few minutes later the beautiful mystery woman returned with sweet Suzy sobbing in her arms. Robert's heart dropped, the woman was suddenly much less entrancing with the distraction of those little tears. 

"Suzy, baby," The stranger placed her on the ground so Robert could give back the toddler and drop to his knees. He wiped at her red cheeks, brushing tears off of them before cupping her little face in his seemingly huge hands. "Honey what happened? I'm so sorry." He kissed her forehead, "did something go wrong? I should have gone in with you." He held her out at arm's length and waited expectantly to hear what he'd have to explain later to her parents; Jenny was going to kill him. "I'm a dumb man, Honey, I'm so sorry-"

His self-deprecating apologies were interrupted by his new hero, with a gentle kick to his side. "Her sash," she whispered, bouncing the baby on her hip to keep him quiet. 

Upon receipt of the prompt, Robert glanced to Suzy's waist, and spun her around so the back of her dress was visible. The ends of her sash were soaking wet, she must have dropped them in the toilet by accident. He exhaled sharply, relieved that the issue was so minor. "Good God, honey, I'll get you a new sash- you had me terrified." 

"Mom's gonna kill you," Unhelpful Johnny piped in from behind, and the mystery woman hid her laughter behind the toddler's head. 

"No she won't," He scowled at the boy, "we'll just tell your father first." Robert winked when Suzy was facing him again. He pulled at the sash to unlace the rest of it from the front of the pink dress, and then tossed it in trash can without a second thought. Out of sight, out of mind. 

"Can we get ice cream now, Bobby?" Suzy asked through her stuttering recovery. "I don't wanna be in the aquarium anymore." 

Robert nodded vigorously, desperate to get her back in a good mood. "Yea, we can, of course." Politely, he spun back to the woman, and held out a hand to shake. "Hey, thank you-" he started awkwardly, and she did a pseudo-curtsy in recognition. At least, the best of one she could do with the toddler in her arms. "I didn't catch your name?" 

"Marie," She announced proudly, before pinching the boy's cheeks with her forefinger and thumb to twist his little face to facing Robert. "And this is Liam, my little brother." 

He didn't know how to word it, so he didn't; but she did seem a little old, at least 30, to have such an age gap when it came to siblings. Apparently he didn't need to verbalize it, as she promptly offered an explanation, "well step-brother. My dad remarried." 

Good enough. Robert grinned ear to ear, and reached to retrieve the little hands he had been holding all day. "I'm Robert, but most everyone calls me Bobby." 

Nodding, Marie pushed the options further- "Which do you prefer?" 

"Oh, you can call me whatever you want." He winked, but before he could admire her girlish giggles, his wrist was pulled at again. The promise of ice cream was trumping any patience sweet Suzy had in her bones. "Speaking of, Marie, thank you for your help. I'd like to ask you out for a drink, but right now I think ice cream will have to do." 

\---

"New sashes and ice cream?" Marie smirked, "looks like your friend loves you very much." She poked at Suzy's nose, sending the little girl into a fit of giggles. 

"Oh yes!" She insisted brightly, nodding along while taking a slurp of her vanilla ice cream cone. "I'm gonna marry him one day." He couldn't have found a better wingman if he tried. 

Robert and Johnny had been playing rock paper scissors, with little Liam watching on in immense fascination. However, the mention of an arranged marriage caught his attention. He glanced over to the girls, and saw Marie giggle with little Suzy. 

"I don't remember asking you to marry me," He taunted, leaning to prop himself up against the table by precious Suzy. His elbow landed on the tabletop, his chin in his hand, and he batted his eyes at her like a preteen girl getting asked to the dance. 

Suzy cheesed, wrapping her arms around Robert's neck and accidentally spilling some of her ice cream onto the collar of his shirt. He didn't mind, but he struggled not to shiver when the cold hit him. "Oh Bobby you don't have ta!" She squealed, and little Liam clapped despite not knowing the context of his joy. 

"Well perfect!" Robert wrapped his arms around her waist, hoisting her into the air and onto his hip in a swift move. "Now your Mommy can stop harassing me about all that marriage junk." He pressed his forehead to Suzy's and tickled her side, "I've already found my lady." 

"Mommy thinks you need to get married?" Marie asked nosily, pulling Liam up into her lap while she shared her ice cream with him. "Mommy sounds like a square." 

"She's a total square," Johnny confirmed, nodding seriously as he did. "Dad says so." Robert wondered if the boy even knew what a 'square' was. 

"They're great, they just care." He sat Suzy down and she went to play peek-a-boo with the baby. "Everyone's gotta get married eventually, though." 

It looked like Marie was going to be sick, the way she crunched her nose in disgust. "Not me." She insisted gruffly. Well, that was fascinating. Robert smiled warmly, before taking a seat next to her. 

“Why not?” He asked nosily, genuinely interested in the answer. “I thought every girl dreamed of their wedding day?” 

Marie rolled her eyes, and then laughed aloud at the thought. “When your parents have re-married three times each,” she covered little Liam’s ears with her hands, “then you quickly learn the whole thing is a big joke.” 

Robert’s squint narrowed, she sounded cynical but didn’t seem all too upset with the grim conclusion. “Monogamy in general or just marriage?” His word choice proved useful, since Johnny’s quizzical stare proved he didn’t recognize the first part. 

She looked to the sky, face skewing in intense thought. “Isn’t marriage really just forced monogamy?” Her gaze fell back to him, and he squirmed. “Why put pressure on a good thing if you’ve got it?” Marie shrugged aloofly, and Robert could only grin. At least that made it sound a bit more romantic. “I just don’t see the point in getting married.” 

That was definitely an interesting look on things. "Well good, because I'm already spoken for." He put his hands on his chest, and sassily pulled at his shirt to smooth out the wrinkles. "But I don't think she'll mind if you let me take you out to dinner sometime?" Eyeing the kids making a mess around them, he motioned subtly their direction, "without the distractions?" 

"Maybe," She could have melted him to the floor with those eyes. "You should give me your number," Marie suggested before biting her lip and bouncing Liam on her lap. "Maybe I'll call you sometime, Bobby." 

Good enough for Robert. 


End file.
